Some weeks ago, The SRA (Sécurité et Réparation Automobiles, a French association of car insurance companies) published a report about the huge, 70 per cent upward price evolution of replacement car lamps over the last four years. This is certainly not unique to France, and it’s largely on account of technological evolution; LED lamps cost more than halogen ones, whether they’re new or used. The average price for a replacement headlamp in France is €810. For an older vehicle, around 15 years old, the average headlamp price is €465; for a vehicle under 2 years old it’s €1,094.
At the same time, SRA mentioned that 91 per cent of damaged lamps cannot be repaired; they must be replaced. For damaged vehicles that cannot be repaired—end of life vehicles—headlamps have the lowest level of reuse—only 4.9 per cent, compared to hoods (9.4), tailgates (18.1) or even front bumpers (5.6 per cent). They are just too complex to package, transport, or reuse due to complex lamp ECU management.
There are other reasons, too. There are a lot of ways for headlamps to deteriate with age and usage, and most lamps cannot be repaired, except for lens polishing (which raises its own durability-of-repair issues) and bracket replacement if suitable parts are available and the lamp’s brackets happen to have broken in a repairable way.
The SRA want industry to make lamps more readily repairable and reusable. Every year in France alone, 300,000 headlamps cannot be repaired. With an estimated average CO2 footprint of 45 kg CO2 per headlamp, that means 13,500 tonnes CO2 equivalent, similar to 62 millions kilometres driven by ICE vehicles.
We in the vehicle lighting community—as discussed in our sustainability session at the DVN Munich event—can and should pick up and run with this challenge. We must initiate the action. As said by Valeo Keynote Mino Yamamoto in Munich, 80 per cent of the job is done during design phase, after which it is too late to change the reusability or repairability of a lamp. Read all about it in our coverage of the SRA report in your DVNewsletter this week.
Sincerely yours,
